West Ham United should continue with central defensive duo after impressive stats emerge v Fulham
West Ham may have found the perfect central defensive duo to help the club avoid Premier League relegation this season.
Centre-backs Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma put in a superb shift in the victory against Fulham on Saturday (8 April), making several key tackles and interceptions as they kept a clean sheet in the 1-0 victory.
It comes immediately after West Ham were thumped 5-1 by Newcastle on Wednesday (5 April), where David Moyes had partnered Zouma at the back with Nayef Aguerd.
But following his mistakes against the Magpies, Aguerd was replaced in the starting XI by Ogbonna for the trip to Fulham.
And the Italian put in a top display alongside Zouma, with the pair registering four interceptions, four blocked shots and a huge 26 clearances in the 1-0 win, according to West Ham’s official Twitter account.
Moreover, the duo drew in plenty of praise from pundit Alan Shearer on Match of the Day on Saturday night (8 April, 1hr29m43s): “Five changes to the team, three of which came in the back four; Ogbonna came in, Cresswell came in and Coufal came in. They made the difference today.
“It wasn’t about playing well today for West Ham, it was about getting the points that they so badly needed. Positioning was superb, Zouma and Ogbonna, right place right time, they got the distances right when balls were coming in. It was much better, certainly defensively from West Ham.”
West Ham have certainly not been bad defensively this season, with the Hammers conceding 39 goals from their 29 matches, with only seven clubs conceding fewer in the league, according to the official Premier League website.
But keeping clean sheets has been another issue, with Moyes’s side making just seven shutouts this season, with only four clubs below them in this list, according to the official Premier League website.
Keeping clean sheets isn’t everything, but keeping the goals conceded column as low as possible will be hugely important in the weeks to come, particularly as goal difference starts to come into play.
Aguerd had a much tougher task against the attacking quality of Newcastle, with Zouma and Ogbonna not even having to deal with the threat of the suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic against Fulham.
Regardless of the circumstances, however, Moyes may look to the latest win and clean sheet for inspiration in the club’s upcoming matches.
A trip to Gent in the Europa Conference League is up next, perhaps allowing Moyes to fully utilise his squad and play the likes of Aguerd and Thilo Kehrer in central defence in Europe, with Zouma and Ogbonna potentially his preferred duo in the league.